Electric Vehicles: More Fleets Going Green

Electric vehicles (EV) are a growing trend both on and off the jobsite – and now manufacturers are offering new equipment, while users are demonstrating how fleets can go green.

More often, manufacturers are offering new electric fleets for industries such as construction. Case in point: Mack Trucks, a part of the Volvo Group, plans to have a fully electric refuse vehicle in 2019 equipped with an integrated Mack electric drivetrain.

While this is one example, electric vehicles can also provide value in construction. Mack Trucks explains that benefits of fully electric vehicles include zero emissions, reduced noise and environmental sustainability, and the ability to operate quietly in urban areas.

Consider this example: Catalina Pacific, a CalPortland Co., is now beginning to use Redeem renewable natural gas on 118 ready-mixed concrete trucks, which will operate throughout southern California.

By converting these trucks, the organization will operate a clean concrete fleet, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70 percent and smog-causing NOx emissions by more than 90 percent.

Now with the renewable natural gas, Catalina Pacific is able to achieve zero emissions from its fleet vehicles, while saving millions of dollars a year in fuel costs. The concrete mixers are expected to consume an average of 75,000 gal. of Redeem fuel per month, which displaces roughly 8,365 metric tons annually of GHG emissions.

The organization is already dedicated to monitoring and improving the functionality of energy across its operations, which includes 65 ready-mixed plants, 25 aggregate quarries and 16 cement plants/terminals.